Mail-pouch fastener



Y mm M NF m H 0 AP -L M (No Model.)

No. 424,420. Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

THOMAS A. KENNEDY, OF MARTINSVILLE, ASSIGNOR OF ONF-HALF TO JOHN E. \VEST, OF FAIRLAND, INDIANA. I

MAIL-POUCH FASTENER.

. SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,420, dated March 25, 1890.

Application filed June 14, 1889. Serial No. 314,318. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. KENNEDY, of Martinsville, county of Morgan, and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Fasteners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters and figures refer to to like parts.

My invention relates to the construction of devices for fastening the mouths of mailpouches, and will be understood from the fol lowing description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of a mail-pouch with the flap thrown back, showing my locking device secured to the under side thereof. Fig. 2 is an end View of the rod and hook, showing the method of attachment of the bearing 2 to the flap of the pouch. Fig.

3 is a side view similar to Fig. 1, showing the flap let down in place and partly broken away to show the hooks entering the staples for locking the parts together. Fig. t is an end view of the rod and hook, showing the latter entering the staples in the act oflocking the parts. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a part of the rod, showing how the hinging eyes are let into the surface of the rod to prevent any lateral movement. Fig. 6 shows a modified form of the rod, being jointed so as to allow the bag to be collapsed upon the sides without bending the rod. Figs. 1 and 2 are on a smaller scale than the other figures.

In detail, 1' is a rod journaled at its ends in the bearings 1 and midway in the bearings 2, all these bearings passing through the flap f of the pouch p and riveted 011 the opposite side in the manner shown in Fig. 2. Between these bearings and connected to the rod are hooks h and a central hasp h, which is conveniently formed with an open top to admit an addresstag, and has the usual slot for passing over a staple connected to the pouch below, and an ordinary mail-padlock is used for locking the parts at that point. The hooks are set at an angle to the direction of the hasp, as shown in Fig. 2, and are rigidly connected to the rod.

.9 are staples riveted to one half of the pouch on its inner side, and are located so as to pass through openings .9 in the other half of the pouch, which are preferably T-shaped, as shown in Fig. 1, these openings being surrounded by brass or sheet metal to prevent hooks h, which are set to engage with these staples, are brought directly opposite them, and then by bringing the hasp h and the flap f down upon the pouch p, in the manner shown in Fig. 3, the rod is rotated and the hooks connected to such rods are thrown to the rear, their points entering beneath the staples s, and as the rotary movement continues are passed entirely through, firmly locking the parts together. When the eye of the hasp is fitted over the staple below, an ordinary mailpadlock is inserted, and the device is completely locked at all points where the hooks engage with the staples protruding through the parts of the pouch. The openings below the staple, as has been said, are made T-shaped, so that the point of the hook will enter the opening below the staple without difficulty or catching in the pouch. No one of the hooks can be opened sooner than another, as the rotary movement of the rod operates all the hooks, and this can only be done by lifting the hasp from its staple, and throwing it upward and backward in the position shown in Fig. 1, thus instantly releasing the hooks, throwing them out of the way of the operator, and the pouch may be readily opened for filling. The hasp therefore has a double function. It operates as a handle for rotating the rod, locking its hooks in the staples of the pouch below, and also as an ordinary hasp combined 0 with an address-tag, as shown.

YVha-t I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following, viz:

1. A mail-pouch fastener comprising a rod rotatable in bearings connected to the under side of the flap and provided with hooks set at an angle to the rod for engaging with staples below connected with one half and passing through the other half of the pouch, substan- 10o tially as shown and described.

2. A mail pouch fastener comprising a mailpouch, a rotatable rod carried beneath its flap and near-the top, a central hasp attached to said rod, a series of hooks set at an angle to that of the hasp and also connected to the rotatable rod, a corresponding series of staples connected to one and passing through holes formed in the opposite half of the pouch, with which the hooks engage when the flap is folded down in place and the rod rotated, and means for securing the hasp to the closed bag, substantially as described.

3. In a 1nail-pouch fastener, a rotatable rod connected in bearings to the pouch-flap, carrying a series of hooks and jointed to allow lateral compression of the pouch Without bend- I 5 ing the rod, in combination with a series of staples connected to one half and passing through holes formed in the opposite half of the pouch, substantially as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my 20 hand this 7th day of June, 1889.

THOMAS A. KENNEDY.

WVitnesses:

O. P. JAooBs, E. B. GRIFFITH. 

